The Birthday party

 Thinking Activity

Hello readers! 

    Welcome to my blog, we have had movie screening on " The Birthday party ", so based on this we have a task to give an answer of the question of the worksheet, so let's see one by one. 

The Film Screening 

Film Screening: ‘The Birthday Party’ - a British drama film (1968)- directed by 

William Friedkin (The Birthday Party) -  based on an unpublished screenplay by 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter, which he adapted from his own play The Birthday Party (Pinter, The Birthday Party).  

#Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter  was born in 10 October 1930  and he was died in  24 December 2008.He was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. He got Nobel Prize  winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years.

          He was a sprinter and a keen cricket player, acting in school plays and writing poetry.He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television, and film productions of his own and others' works.Pinter's career as a playwright began with a production of The Room in 1957. His second play, The Birthday Party.

Is movie successful in giving us the effect of menace? Where you able to feel it while reading the text?

the movie giving a successful effect of menace. While we are reading the play at some level it creates that kind of effect but not that much like film does because the audio and visual effects are more effective that reading text. In the movie, we find the effect of menace clearly in the interrogation scene where the number of the question asked and through the loud sound effect and Stanley was sweating in fear and frustration and when Stanley hears about the two strangers he runs in a fear.

What do you read in 'newspaper' in the movie? Petey is reading newspaper to Meg, it torn into pieces by McCain, pieces are hidden by Petey in last scene.

Newspaper has a symbolically significant in the movie. Newspaper can be used for hiding self from unnecessary things or situation. In the scene in which Petey reading newspaper and mag is working and asking current news. It shows power position in relationship. Petey in superior position and Mag in inferior position. Newspaper also reflects reality. Petey hide the pieces of newspaper because he not wanted to show Mag reality. Stanley tried to going against Goldberg and McCain may be fight for truth but this pieces of newspapers shows truth is broken and can not stand up against them.

Camera is positioned over the head of McCain when he is playing Blind Man's Buff and is positioned at the top with a view of room like a cage (trap) when Stanley is playing it. What interpretations can you give to these positioning of camera?

  The camera positioned over the head of MacCann when he is playing, blind man's buff, it presents the reality, that we have not privacy and not free from the government, it suggests that they keep watching on us. 

Pinter restored theater to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of one another and pretense crumbles." (Pinter, Art, Truth & Politics: Excerpts from the 2005 Nobel Lecture). Does this happen in the movie?

We can said that, some extent it happens in the movie. Everyone has love and care for each other for instance Meg, lulu and Petey show care for Stanley but at the end when Stanley is in problem no one can helps or even care. So, we can connect this with America and and other countries for example, when many Muslim countries have care and love for other Muslim countries but when America opposes any country like Iran and Iraq then Saudi Arabia can not do anything like Petey, Meg can not do for Stanley because power make them underdog.

Thank you....